Nearly 11 months after Hurricane Harvey hit the Gulf Coast of Texas, the USDA said it will pay up to $900,000 in disaster relief to producers who suffered losses due to hurricanes or wildfires last year. Reimbursements will range from 65 percent to 95 percent of losses, the agency said on Monday.
“We are making immediate, initial payments of up to 50 percent of the calculated assistance so producers can pay their bills,” said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in a statement. Additional payments will be issued if funds remain available. “Our objective is to get relief funds into the hands of eligible producers as quickly as possible.”
Signup for the payments began on Monday and will run through Nov. 16. Congress appropriated $2.36 billion early this year for disaster relief to producers in nine states and territories hit by hurricanes and wildfires. On May 1, the USDA announced a $340 million grant to Florida to aid its citrus growers. Hurricane Irma struck the state last year just as the citrus crop was ready for harvest, so losses were high.
Producers who receive a payment from the disaster program will be required to buy crop insurance at the 60 percent level of coverage or enroll in the USDA’s Noninsured Assistance Program, which functions somewhat like insurance. If producers do not buy risk coverage for the next two crop years, they will be obliged to repay the disaster aid.
Payments will be capped at $125,000 for producers who get less than 75 percent of their income from farming and at $900,000 for full-time operators. Payment rates will be highest for growers who purchased the highest levels of insurance coverage in 2017. They will be set at 65 percent of the expected value of the crop for producers who did not have crop insurance.
A USDA fact sheet on the disaster program is available here.